NCAAB

Utah State
Aggies
(10-10)

Idaho
Vandals
(10-9)

Utah State

Idaho

Moscow, ID (Sports Network) - Djim Bandoumel tied his career-high of 16 points as the Idaho Vandals put together a late rally to defeat the Utah State Aggies 57-54 in a Western Athletic Conference battle at the Cowan Spectrum.

Deremy Geiger netted 12 points for Idaho (10-9, 3-2 WAC) as it won its third game in four tries. Kyle Barone grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Preston Medlin scored a game-high 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field for Utah State (10-10, 2-3) as it lost its second in a row. Danny Berger chipped in 10 points while Brockeith Pane and Ben Clifford hauled in six rebounds apiece.

Although they went 0-of-8 from three-point range, the Aggies took a 29-25 advantage into the intermission after they shot 53.8 percent from the floor in the opening period. Idaho stayed close by making 41.8 percent of its field goal tries and hitting 2-of-8 from beyond the arc in the first half. Utah State won the rebounding battle 19-10 in the opening period.

The Aggies extended their lead to nine with 15:26 left in regulation, but the Vandals slowly chipped away. Stephen Madison gave Idaho its first lead of the second half with 26 seconds on the clock. After a Pane turnover, Mansa Habeeb made one-of-two from the free throw line. Utah State had one final chance, but Medlin's last second three-point attempt was unsuccessful and the Vandals pulled off the rally. Idaho scored 16 points off of turnovers in the second half which helped charge the comeback.

Utah State committed 16 turnovers, while the Vandals did a much better job handling the ball as they were guilty of just eight turnovers.